Assemblyman Denny Farrell, left, addresses those gathered as Assemblyman Ron Canestrari looks on as the members of the New York Works Task Force held a meeting at the Empire State Plaza meeting room 6 on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

Assemblyman Denny Farrell, left, addresses those gathered as Assemblyman Ron Canestrari looks on as the members of the New York Works Task Force held a meeting at the Empire State Plaza meeting room 6 on ... more

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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Members of the New York Works Task Force hold a meeting at the Empire State Plaza meeting room 6 on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Members of the New York Works Task Force hold a meeting at the Empire State Plaza meeting room 6 on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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Members of the New York Works Task Force hold a meeting at the Empire State Plaza meeting room 6 on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Members of the New York Works Task Force hold a meeting at the Empire State Plaza meeting room 6 on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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Robert Megna, New York State budget director, addresses those gathered he and other members of the New York Works Task Force held a meeting at the Empire State Plaza meeting room 6 on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

Robert Megna, New York State budget director, addresses those gathered he and other members of the New York Works Task Force held a meeting at the Empire State Plaza meeting room 6 on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012 in ... more

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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Robert Megna, background right, New York State budget director, addresses those gathered he and other members of the New York Works Task Force held a meeting at the Empire State Plaza meeting room 6 on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

Robert Megna, background right, New York State budget director, addresses those gathered he and other members of the New York Works Task Force held a meeting at the Empire State Plaza meeting room 6 on ... more

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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State moves forward on Tappan Zee bridge replacement plan

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Editor's note: An earlier version of this story mistakenly stated an amount the state requested for the federal loan. No amount was specified.

ALBANY — State officials moved forward Monday with a plan to build a replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge, again requesting a loan from the federal government at the same time they are re-examining how major capital projects are coordinated.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo started talking about a burst of construction — including the redone Tappan Zee — in his January State of the State presentation. The state is evaluating three bids for the bridge, which has an estimated $5.2 billion price tag, and made a second request for a federal loan after an authorizing vote from a regional transportation planning committee. Earlier, the state asked for $2 billion.

"It's time to actually get something done. This is a dangerous situation, this is an expensive situation. We need to build a new bridge — we said that 13 years ago," Cuomo said during an event in Rockland County.

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A detailed financial plan for the replacement bridge has not been made public. In addition to any federal loan, Cuomo's aides have proposed $14 tolls for the crossing, which the governor himself later said was too burdensome for the 138,000 vehicles that cross the bridge each day.

It's the largest capital project currently on the state's plate, and the Thruway Authority is handling it. Bob Megna, the state's budget director, said New York taxpayers pay about $16 billion on capital projects — investments for buildings, roads and other pieces of public infrastructure — but only about $9.7 billion is directly spent by state agencies.

He presented his findings to a new task force, called New York Works, during a meeting in Albany. The task force was formed earlier this year to make sure all the various agencies and authorities were working in concert.

"This lack of communication and comprehensive planning is holding New York back on rebuilding our infrastructure and moving ahead with critical, job-creating projects," said Assemblyman Denny Farrell, a Manhattan Democrat who sits on the body.

Megna said many state entities, including the Thruway Authority, have been guilty of this. More than 60 percent had no specific way of rating whether an asset was in a state of good repair, and 60 percent did not have clear criteria for prioritizing capital projects.

Last week, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli criticized the Thruway Authority for the latter point as it began hearings on a proposed 45 percent increase on truck tolls. The move is projected to bring in $85 million in revenue. The authority's leader acknowledged it had previously been mismanaged, but said things were turning a corner — a point echoed by Megna.

"They did most of the things, and they did them, from their perspective, in a fairly effective way. ... The real problem we found was, they did it in a different way than other agencies and authorities did," he said.

The Authority wrapped up hearings on the toll hike Saturday. There were forums in Buffalo, Syracuse and Newburgh, but none in the Capital Region, which drew outrage from some local Republicans.

"I believe it's insulting that those doing business in the Capital District, as well as small-business owners and taxpayers who would be affected by a toll hike, have not been afforded the opportunity to make their voices heard on what is a massive tax increase," said Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, R-Schaghticoke. "Instead, Thruway Authority officials drove through the 'E-ZPass' lane and forgot about us."